In force 7, gusting force 8…common sense suggested we put in a reef. Frankly it made little difference to her speed so we took it out…just after that she went on the plane and clocked 12 knots.

Dave Greenwell sails a 20 feet long dayboat designed to be bomb-proof

It was a difficult brief. An open, centreboard, sea-going dayboat, around 20 feet overall, which would be fast on all points of sail, unsinkable, self-draining and, oh yes, completely self-righting even with her keel fully raised. And what Mike Reid, who was commissioning the design, really meant when he said self-righting, was uncapsizeable. The result was the Hawk 20 which took two-years to develop and is a quite remarkable boat to sail.
On the day I was to meet Chris Hawkins, her designer, for a test sail, I arrived at Lymington in a Force 7 gusting to gale F8. The brochure claims that she could happily sail in a Force 7 under full sail, and it looked as though I was going to discover the truth the hard way.

We motored out towards the Solent, pushed by a 4hp Mariner outboard neatly accommodated in an engine well on the centreline and beneath the small after deck. Having the prop directly in front of the rudder made her easy to manoeuvre and because it was also well forward of the transom, there was little chance of the propeller ventilating, even in rough water. Surprisingly, there was little turbulence in the engine well, even with the outboard working hard, but for added sailing efficiency the outboard lifts clear of the water and a pair of panels slot in to close the hole. Once in sight of open water, we hoisted sail in preparation for what was, for me, an ‘interesting’ experience. “Might as well put it all up, ” suggested Chris with confidence.